


ink & sugar

by nasaplates



Category: EXO (Band), K-pop
Genre: -exclusive author note, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Bakery, Alternate Universe - Writing & Publishing, Angst, Background Relationships, Fluff, Food as a Metaphor for Love, Idiots in Love, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Mutual Pining, Romcom Antics, Secret Identity, Slow Burn, THEY'RE SO FUCKING STUPID WHEN WILL THEY KISS, also coffee as a metaphor for love, brief mention of a Jackson Party, but coffee is always a metaphor for love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2020-08-10 17:42:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20139418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nasaplates/pseuds/nasaplates
Summary: Chanyeol is the Senior Editor for EXO Publishing House, and Kyungsoo is the head baker (and owner) of CBX Bakery. In which: Kyungsoo writes a novel, Junmyeon meddles, Jongdae, Minseok and Baekhyun defile the bakery, Jongin naps (when he isn't dancing), and two people fall in love.





	ink & sugar

**Author's Note:**

> Oh Lovely Day Fest: **Prompt LD026**
> 
> To the mods: thank you for running such a lovely (hah) fest <3
> 
> To the prompter: I hope this was something like what you were hoping for!
> 
> big big thank you to K without whom this would never have been posted.
> 
> E, 30 yellow heart emojis
> 
> and all the love in the world for my writing support group for keeping me (relatively) sane. love you, squad.
> 
> CHARACTERS:  
CBX BAKERY  
\- Kyungsoo: head baker and owner  
\- Jongin: Kyungsoo's assisstant  
\- Minseok: icing king, cake decorator  
\- Jongdae: cold menu specialist, sandwich maker, and helps serve customers when needed  
\- Baekhyun: barista master, front counter server, and general flirt  
\- Zitao: delivery guy, extra hand throughout the bakery when needed  
EXO PUBLISHING  
\- Kris: Editorial Director, has final say on which books get published (and which don't)  
\- Chanyeol: Senior Editor, edits manuscripts and works directly with agents and authors to fully realize their work  
\- Luhan: head of marketing, decides if the publishing house can successfully market a book  
\- Yixing: Designer, makes the books pretty, cover design, internal book layout, typesetting, etc  
\- Sehun: design intern, helps Yixing make the books pretty  
\- Junmyeon: Agent, pitches books for clients, doesn't actually work for EXO but spends a lot of time there...for Gay Reasons

Kyungsoo backed through the doors of EXO Publishing House, arms full of pastries, Zitao carrying a tray of coffees, bouncing on his toes and craning his neck. Generally speaking, Kyungsoo thought it was endearing, the way Zitao made a beeline for the design desk and his fiance Sehun, but he still rolled his eyes at Yixing, the lead designer, who had determinedly snagged a coffee from Zitao as he passed. Yixing took a deep drink of the coffee, sighed, and then rolled his eyes back in sympathy and thanks as Kyungsoo handed him his blueberry muffin before barking out a surprisingly clear voiced, “Kyungsoo’s here!”

The previously bustling office quieted for a split second, before Kyungsoo was pounced on by Kris, the publishing house’s Editorial Director, who had come literally out of nowhere.

“Uhhh,” Kris said, intelligently, staring down at the mountain of papers in his very full arms, looking at Kyungsoo like a perturbed and somewhat wounded puppy. Kyungsoo took pity on him and stuffed his chocolate donut directly into his mouth. Humming in thanks and happiness, Kris turned back toward his office. 

Junmyeon, literary agent and frequent customer of the CBX Bakery, came laughing out of Chanyeol’s office. Kris spotted him at the same time as Junmyeon spotted him, and they froze for a second, just looking at each other. In a weirdly fluid movement, Kris somehow managed to free a single hand from his armful and pointed at Junmyeon with an aggressive finger. 

“No,” came out garbled by the donut, and Junmyeon laughed at his back as Kris speedwalked into his office and kicked the door closed with a crisp click. Junmyeon turned and winked at Kyungsoo, snagging two coffees from Zitao and a chocolate chip cookie from Kyungsoo. Junmyeon saluted him with the cookie before strutting to Kris’ office door and knocking with a sing-song, “Come on, baby, not in front of the children.” A loud silence rang from the other side of the door. “I’ve got coffee…?”

The door opened just enough to see a single bespectacled eye glaring through it. Junmyeon beamed so widely Kyungsoo felt blinded by his teeth from all the way across the office. Finally, Kris opened the door just enough to drag Junmyeon into his office and then snapped it closed again.

In the silence that echoed through the office, Sehun calmly, with a stone face, started up Let’s Get It On, and then went back to his design work, only cracking a smile when Zitao chuckled and cupped the back of his neck.

Chanyeol chose that moment to pop his head out of his office and sniff deeply.

"Ah!" He exclaimed when he caught sight of Kyungsoo. "My future husband is here!" He beamed enormously, every pearly white tooth showing. Kyungsoo's stomach did a flip and he coughed to cover up any creeping pink that might have been showing on his cheeks. He mumbled something, even he wasn't sure what, and handed Chanyeol his mocha. The whipped cream on top had been shaped in a heart when Kyungsoo left the bakery, but he counted it lucky that it had melted into a shapeless blob by the time Chanyeol took the first deep slurp, Adam's apple bobbing. He moaned appreciatively, and tried to lick the foam off his upper lip.

"You missed a spot, idiot," Kyungsoo said, gesturing to his own mouth, and spun on his heel so he wouldn't try to lick the last of the cream off his face himself.

Chanyeol followed, as he always did, the two of them preferring to take their lunch breaks out in a quiet little courtyard just outside the building.

It was an odd sort of friendship group, a publishing house and a bakery, but since any one of the men who worked for EXO would, if asked about it, solemnly respond "Coffee makes the world go 'round, and Kyungsoo's pastries make it _ better,_" it worked. Junmyeon was the one who found them first, even though as an agent he didn't even technically work for EXO, just happened to find himself with a client that suited them, and had a craving for sugar on the way. He liked to joke loudly and often that he had "discovered" CBX bakery, which everyone ignored but privately were thankful for.

Kyungsoo couldn't remember when he and Chanyeol started having lunch together, but he was pretty sure it happened because Kyungsoo disagreed with one of Chanyeol's book opinions and Chanyeol followed him out the door talking a mile a minute trying to convince him he was right and didn't even realize Kyungsoo had handed him a pastry until he'd stuffed his face with it and had to pause to chew. It was infuriatingly endearing, and even more infuriatingly it hadn't gotten any _ less _ endearing in the years since. Chanyeol had also, most infuriating of all, only gotten more attractive and _ large _ with time. Kyungsoo, when he could at all help it, tried not to think about it.

"So," Chanyeol said, brushing crumbs off his fingertips before stretching a long casual arm along the bench behind Kyungsoo's shoulders. "Junmyeon brought me a new manuscript today."

"Mm?" Kyungsoo hummed. Junmyeon had a knack for finding books that drove Chanyeol up the wall before he finally realized he loved them and absolutely had to have them. The process was always hilarious to watch.

"It's _ gay_."

Kyungsoo stopped chewing and stared down at his flour dusted shoes. He flicked a glance up to a pouting Chanyeol until the other man caught his eyes, looked away, and did a double take, almost choking on his coffee.

"No! No. No, not. No." Chanyeol stammered. Kyungsoo resumed chewing, deliberately, looking just to the left of one of Chanyeol's ridiculous ears. His heart hadn't slowed from its adrenaline-rabbiting, fingers still tingling from it. His sexuality wasn't a secret, and it couldn't have slipped Chanyeol's notice that the only exes he ever mentioned, as rarely as he ever _ did _ mention them, were men.

Chanyeol sighed. "I forgot you left that party early," he murmured apologetically.

Kyungsoo made eye contact with him again, and saw the regret was honest. He didn't give Chanyeol the satisfaction of asking the question, but he did loosen his grip on his western-style sandwich.

With an embarrassed twitch of his mouth, Chanyeol scratched the back of his head. Kyungsoo missed the warmth of his arm behind him immediately.

"Ah, so. That one party, last month, at the nice place with all the art? Junmyeon's friend, I think it was his boyfriend's house?" Kyungsoo nodded. Jackson was always throwing parties, and they were always hard to forget. He was pretty sure he left this one after someone literally fell in love at first sight right in front of him. Over beer pong.

"Well," Chanyeol cleared his throat and adjusted his collar. "I, um. Imadeoutwithminseok."

Kyungsoo blinked. "Huh?"

Chanyeol groaned and slid down until his head was rested on the back of the bench, ass barely on the seat, hands covering his face. This time the words were garbled by his hands, but clearly audible.

"I made out with Minseok."

Several different emotions assaulted Kyungsoo at once, including but not limited to: confusion, jealousy, anger, sadness, an academic sort of lust, more confusion, panic, and a full-bodied tingling that might have been his last living brain cell screaming “WHAT THE FUCK.” Being the man he was, he ruthlessly suppressed each and every one of them and blurted the first thing that came to mind.

“You’re straight?” His face was probably doing something bizarre and deeply embarrassing but luckily Chanyeol still had his face buried in very large hands. Chanyeol shook his head, almost slapping himself in the face with every shake.

There was a long, very awkward pause where Kyungsoo’s entire world tilted in appalling ways. 

“Huh.” Kyungsoo said, taking another bite of his sandwich. He stared off into space as he chewed. He could picture it, really, Chanyeol and Minseok. Minseok and Jongdae were ridiculously in love, and they had some kind of a _ thing _ with Baekhyun (that mostly involved scarring Kyungsoo for life every time he walked into a back room and witnessed them performing enthusiastic and convoluted sex acts _ in his bakery_) but Minseok had taken great joy in flirting with Chanyeol since the first time they met, so. It made sense, really. Kyungsoo was definitely going to make Minseok take every terrible cake commission that came their way for the next year, but it made sense.

When he came back to himself, Chanyeol was still slumped on the bench, but he was looking at Kyungsoo through a gap between his fingers. There was something charged in the look in his eyes, something he couldn’t quite read.

Before he could figure it out, Chanyeol broke the eye contact by dropping his hands and closing his eyes, blowing a noisy breath through pursed lips, flipping the hair up at his fringe. He sat back up, leaned forward, elbows on his knees, hands fidgeting together in front of him.

“So,” he said, looking sideways at Kyungsoo. “Yeah. I’m bi.” 

Something about hearing the word out loud made white noise erupt in Kyungsoo’s ears. It was easier, to tamp down the visions of Chanyeol on his knees, the imaginings of what that deep voice would sound like moaning, to suppress the constant ache that lived in his palm to hold Chanyeol’s hand, when he had been so certain there was no chance of it ever happening. Now, all of that came roaring to life, all the little flames of hope at the way Chanyeol looked at him sometimes, the way he constantly slung an arm around him, the way he effortlessly called him his favorite.

Chanyeol poked him in the knee, tearing him from his thoughts. He reflexively slapped his hand, turned and gave Chanyeol a small smile so he knew they were okay. Chanyeol mocked hurt, but the smile was there in the crinkles to the side of his eyes.

“Anyway!” Chanyeol clapped for emphasis. “About this manuscript and Junmyeon’s incessant need to _ mock me_.” He scowled dramatically as he flopped back against the bench, slinging his arm behind Kyungsoo again. Kyungsoo tried not to read into it too much, but he was self aware enough to acknowledge he failed, miserably.

“First one he's brought me since, y’know,” he coughed, pink at the tips of his ears, “and not only do I already _ have _ a stack of manuscripts to read, it’s from a brand new author, and it’s _ gay_.” Chanyeol sighed and scowled slightly. “No clue why I even took the pitch, the meddling bastard, especially when we all know he just hangs around here to get up to horrifying things in Kris’ office.” He shuddered. Kyungsoo could relate, but he was pretty sure Chanyeol had never walked in on his coworkers naked and covered in icing, so he was less than sympathetic.

“What’s it about?” Kyungsoo asked, trying to derail him from his complaining, and take the pout off his face, adorable as it was.

“It’s about an idol group, boy band, almost like a memoir?” Chanyeol squinted, looked up at the leaves of the tree above them. The shadows played across his face, a breeze lifting his fringe. “The narrator is part of the vocal line, he kind of reminds me of you, actually, I bet your internal monologue is as snarky as this dude’s.” Chanyeol shot him a side glance and a smirk that faded into something more thoughtful as his gaze skittered to the side. “He’s in love with another group member, rapper, kind of an annoying shit, really, but he’s talented and hot I guess, by his description.” 

Kyungsoo felt a chill run up the back of his neck. 

Two mornings previously, on his way out of town for a pitch, Junmyeon had stopped by the cafe and picked up Kyungsoo’s first three chapters of his manuscript. They’d been talking about it for a while, just the two of them because being friends with so many people in the publishing business was inspiration to finally turn some of his ideas into something substantial, but he still didn’t want to look like a complete ass in front of everyone. Junmyeon was good at his job, and surprisingly gentle with his commentary, really, so Kyungsoo trusted him when he finally showed him some of his work and he looked him in the eyes and earnestly said, “This is really good, Soo.” 

So, he wrote his first novel, and trusted it to Junmyeon, who’d winked and said, “I know just the place to take this.”

His novel, under a pseudonym, D.O., also the stage name of his main character; a singer in a boy group, in love with his tall, brash, talented, hot rapper of a groupmate.

Kyungsoo was going to _ murder _ Junmyeon.

“I only got time to skim it, really,” Chanyeol continued, completely oblivious to the panic attack and thoughts of violence Kyungsoo was currently wrestling with. “But there’s something…” he paused, squinted. “Fuck, you’re gonna laugh at me but it’s almost...musical, the way this guy writes.” Kyungsoo’s heart kicked up to double time, the laugh he forces out of his chest entirely too breathy. Chanyeol scowled at him, playfully. “Yeah yeah, book about an idol group written _ musically_, whatever. Still, it’s true.” Chanyeol chewed on his lower lip, and Kyungsoo really didn’t think he could handle going through so many emotions in so short a time. 

Suddenly, Kyungsoo couldn’t sit on that bench, watching the dappled sunlight on Chanyeol’s face, thinking about Chanyeol’s red pen scrawl all over his pathetic love letter of a book.

Skin itching, he started gathering up his garbage and plucked the empty cup from Chanyeol’s hand before he could distractedly take a sip out of it even though there was nothing in it and then make a wounded sound like someone had kicked him in the kidney. Chanyeol looked surprised for a moment, shook his wrist out to check his watch and then frowned up at him like a puppy being denied walkies.

“When I left, Jongin was passed out asleep on a counter,” Kyungsoo said, deadpan, a whole parade of horrors dancing through his mind.

Chanyeol hummed in mock understanding, lips pushed together in comical sympathy as he nodded. “RIP.”

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes and shoved an already laughing Chanyeol in the shoulder. “No one _ says that out loud_, Jesus Christ.”

“Love you!” Chanyeol shouted at his back as Kyungsoo checked both ways and then jogged across the street, bakery storefront in view. Kyungsoo’s heart skipped a beat or two, and he tossed a wave over his shoulder in reply, the words trapped like birds inside his ribcage.

The bell over the door tinkled when he pushed it open, but the counter was left unattended, the bakery otherwise ominously silent. Then, in a flurry of sound, Baekhyun came bursting from the back room, strutting like he was on a catwalk, smug smirk firmly in place, and absolutely _ covered _ in flour. He beamed when he saw Kyungsoo and opened his mouth to speak but Kyungsoo, striding past him to the kitchens, threw a palm in his face.

“I do not want to know, do not tell me, not now, not ever.”

Baekhyun’s laugh followed him as he pushed the double doors open with a shoulder.

Jongin was just as he left him: passed out asleep on the counter, lips pushed out in a baby bear pout. Minseok was icing a wedding cake, the kitchen speakers pumping out Move by Taemin, Jongin’s famous singer boyfriend they tried not to talk about too much because it was frankly disgusting how sappy his face got whenever the man came up in conversation. Completely engrossed in the cake, Minseok sang along in a low voice and idly moved his hips in hypnotic time with the music, somehow never once losing the steadiness of his hands.

Jongdae, who was supposed to be putting together sandwiches for the afternoon rush, was watching Minseok’s hips with dark eyes. His smile remained the same mildly pleasant it always was, but Kyungsoo had been around the two of them (three of them, if you counted Baekhyun and whatever he was to Minseok and Jongdae) for far too long not to recognize the signs of trouble.

“Out,” he said, firm, no nonsense, pointed out the doors for good measure. Jongdae pouted prettily. “Go help in the front, Baekhyun’s going to have to clean up anyway.”

Jongdae sighed, stared wistfully at Minseok’s backside, and, with an impish grin, snaked a quick hand out as if to grab a pinch. Kyungsoo was even quicker, slapping his hand before it could reach its target. Minseok didn’t lose focus for a second.

“Last time you did that when he was decorating a wedding cake you got _ stabbed._” Kyungsoo said, shoving Jongdae out of the kitchen. Jongdae just laughed happily, but did as he was told.

The oven timer went off and Jongin jerked to full wakefulness, moving with impressive fluidity to take out the finished cupcakes, spin them onto the counter at Minseok’s left elbow, take up the waiting batch of unmade cupcakes, twirl them into the oven, close the oven, set the timer, and slide back into the seat he had left barely a minute before. He was asleep again before Kyungsoo could roll his eyes.

***

The next two months passed normally, or as normally as they ever did. Chanyeol and Kyungsoo took their lunches together, as always, and had debates about anything and everything, as always. The whole group got together for beers; Minseok and Chanyeol played a heated game of darts until Minseok started flirting outrageously enough to get Chanyeol to miss; and they somehow managed to get the entire bar into a debate about whether or not all the names and plotlines in Lord of the Rings was a sign of brilliant worldbuilding or just mind numbingly boring, which only ended because Luhan turned the TV to a football match and yelled until everyone shut up. Kyungsoo found his way out the door not long after Jongdae started singing a ballad to Minseok, and Baekhyun decided to give a wide-eyed Yixing a lap dance even though the song was entirely wrong for it.

Generally, it was a good two months, busy enough that Kyungsoo managed to forget that Chanyeol had read the first three chapters of a book that Kyungsoo had only just admitted he really really _ really _ wanted Chanyeol to like, and then decided he _ did _ like it well enough to request the rest and start editing it. They’d talked about it often, Chanyeol seeming to slowly warm to it, his critiques becoming less critiques and more revelations that things he’d hated earlier in the book actually made a huge emotional impact later on in the story. 

The only time Kyungsoo came even close to “coming clean” about having written the book was one lunch when Chanyeol got very quiet, and then blurted. “But why does D.O. love him so much? I mean, he’s nice, they’re friends, but how many times is he going to lead him on, ah? Is he just gonna ‘no homo’ his way through life forever or what? D.O. deserves someone better, someone who’s gonna really cherish him.” A deep crease had settled in the center of his forehead. Kyungsoo couldn’t think of a single thing to say, the emotions welling up in his chest too powerful for words. _ You fucking idiot_, he wanted to say, _ He’s in love with Loey because I’m in love with you and you deserve the entire fucking world you dumbass_. 

Kyungsoo, when he could swallow without feeling like he was choking, just shrugged and said, “Love makes people stupid. And this Loey guy sounds like the type of idiot to not even be aware of his own feelings, anyway.”

Chanyeol stared at him for a long time and then muttered something about needing to get back to work.

Kyungsoo had stuffed the incident down into some deep back closet of his mind until the next Sunday. Sundays the bakery was closed and Kyungsoo made a point of sleeping in and making as few plans as he possibly could, so it was a surprise when about two weeks after finding out Chanyeol had taken on his book, the doorbell to his apartment rang around 2pm. Still in his pajamas and bunny slippers, a gag gift from Junmyeon but surprisingly comfortable, he went to the door only to see Chanyeol through the peephole.

There was something tired about Chanyeol’s face when Kyungsoo opened the door; dark circles under his eyes, his mouth pinched, forehead creased. His smile was real, and the warm “Hello,” too, but he seemed muted, shoulders slumped instead of bouncing through the door like an excited puppy, already talking a mile a minute. They just stood there and looked at each other for a moment, Chanyeol still in the hall.

“Um,” Chanyeol said, and Kyungsoo was starting to get worried. “Is it ok if I just, read here? For a bit?” He ducked his head a little and waved a very dog-eared and worn copy of The Return of the King. “It’s just always, uh, quieter here. It’s okay if you’re busy, or, well,” Chanyeol blinked at Kyungsoo’s pjs and slippers and smiled faintly. “Or not.”

Kyungsoo nodded and backed away from the door to let Chanyeol in. “Of course, yeah, I’m not busy, I was thinking about doing some reading myself, actually.” That was a lie, he was actually thinking about either watching a terrible romcom and stuffing his face with ice cream, or editing his novel _ again _ even though at this point he was just aimlessly rearranging words. It didn’t matter, Chanyeol already had a copy of the manuscript and he was making his own edits as he went along, but it gave Kyungsoo a way to obsess about it without blurting out entirely too much to Chanyeol. 

And every time he thought about the final scene, where Chanyeol declares his love to Kyungsoo and they kiss on stage in front of the entire world, Kyungsoo thought very very hard about changing his name and moving to another country.

After coming inside and nodding his thanks, Chanyeol did exactly as he said he was going to do: snuggled into the worn leather armchair by the window in the sun, and read. It was quiet, and calm in a way that Kyungsoo and Chanyeol had been many times before, but it was easy to forget how simple it could be between them when they were bickering all the time. Kyungsoo sat on his couch with a book and tried not to stare sappily at the sunlight on Chanyeol’s skin, and the way his expressive face revealed everything about what he was reading. Mostly, Kyungsoo failed, but he didn’t mind. Chanyeol’s face was a better book than whatever Kyungsoo was pretending to read anyway.

As it got later, Kyungsoo decided to cook dinner. He was still in his pajamas, having never changed out of them because he didn’t see the point, so he just shuffled in his bunny slippers over to the fridge and looked inside. 

“Kimchi jjigae?” he called softly over to Chanyeol. Chanyeol hummed happily in reply, and when Kyungsoo glanced over, it was to see Chanyeol stretching, shirt riding up his flat tummy as he arched and groaned in satisfaction. Kyungsoo hurriedly shoved his head into the refrigerator and started pulling out ingredients.

It didn’t take long to make the stew, Kyungsoo chopped the ingredients with a steady professional hand, combined them in a pot and let it simmer away. He pulled a pack of frozen dumplings and set up his bamboo steamer to cook them in. His grandmother would roast him for cooking from a premade package, on top of using premade broth for the stew, but sometimes, like now, he just wanted something nice without going to the trouble of starting from scratch. Kyungsoo stirred the pot of stew and took a small taste of it to check for flavors and found it spicy enough to clear his sinuses immediately. Perfect. 

Taking down bowls he served up the stew and cracked one egg in each bowl, then waited for the dumplings to finish and the eggs to cook from the heat of the stew. When his timer went off, he plated the dumplings, carrying them to his tiny dining table. By the time he went back into the kitchen and took the bowls and utensils back to the table, Chanyeol was already sitting there, sniffing deeply and looking like an eager puppy. His cheeks were bulging with at least one stolen dumpling, which had Kyungsoo rolling his eyes.

“No patience,” he sighed. Chanyeol kept chewing, and just looked at Kyungsoo with an odd, serious expression. Kyungsoo cleared his throat and hoped his blush could be chalked up to the heat from cooking. He jerked his chin at the table. “Eat up,” he said, diving into his own stew.

It was a quiet dinner, both of them engrossed in the food. Kyungsoo thought about little changes he would make to the recipe, all the ways fresh broth would have added depth to the flavor. He wasn’t precisely being self-critical, just aware that, while it was good enough, especially for a quiet day with a friend, it could still be better.

Chanyeol’s knee bumped against his, long legs reaching easily across the small space between them. Kyungsoo bumped back gently, but his eyes startled up when Chanyeol instead reached a hand to tap him on the outside of his thigh. There was a question on Chanyeol’s face, his mouth still full and working on his food. It was adorable, how he tilted his head exactly like a dog wondering why his owner was sad. With a small, entirely too fond smile, Kyungsoo shook his head. It was fine. Everything was more than fine.

Swallowing, Chanyeol’s smile suddenly went impish and he darted a quick hand out to snatch the last dumpling. Kyungsoo snapped out an equally quick hand to slap him on the back of the wrist, when Chanyeol dropped the dumpling and flipped his hand, taking hold of Kyungsoo’s instead. They just looked at each other, caught in each other’s gazes, Kyungsoo’s heart suddenly hammering in his chest. He thought for a moment that Chanyeol might lean over the tiny table and do something ridiculous like kiss him. Kyungsoo couldn’t help himself and dropped his eyes to Chanyeol’s lips.

Chanyeol blushed, the tips of his ears going red with it, and dropped Kyungsoo’s hand again, taking the dumpling and popping it into his mouth whole. Kyungsoo cleared his throat and muttered something without any heat about ungrateful brats and cleaning up, and started clearing the table. He used the distraction of running the water over the dirty bowls and utensils to cover his deep, shaky exhale. His lips tingled with an unshared kiss.

Resolved, Kyungsoo shut off the tap and turned to Chanyeol, mouth open to ask him if he’d like to stay for a movie, only to see him already gathering his book and coat, and toeing into his shoes. His back was hunched again, not as badly as when he first showed up at the door, but he was chewing on his bottom lip, eyes lost in the distance.

“Heading out?” Kyungsoo asked. Chanyeol startled a little, hummed and nodded.

“Yeah, I’ve bugged you enough for one day,” he replied, smile self-deprecating. Before Kyungsoo could tell him he’d really like to be ‘bugged’ like this every day for the rest of his life, Chanyeol continued. “Thank you, for letting me stay, and for dinner, it was delicious.”

They’d migrated to the door, Chanyeol’s hand on the knob. His voice was earnest, eyes intent, and he paused like he was going to say something else. They just looked at each other again, the same energy as over the dumpling, and when Chanyeol’s eyes dropped to Kyungsoo’s lips, Kyungsoo felt the hair on the back of his neck raise from the electricity in the space between them. 

In the same moment they both pulled a half step away from each other, Chanyeol opening the door finally, Kyungsoo clearing his throat.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Chanyeol said. It felt like he meant to say more than that, like there was a meaning there Kyungsoo was supposed to glean beyond just the words. He couldn’t, and so he just nodded, matching Chanyeol for seriousness.

“See you tomorrow,” Kyungsoo said, and Chanyeol gave one last nod before walking out the door and pulling it closed behind him.

Kyungsoo leaned back against the wall next to the door and let out a deep breath. He wasn’t one for getting his hopes up, not really. Chanyeol was a loud man. He was bound to be loud about feelings, if he had them. Right?

With a shake of his head, Kyungsoo shuffled over to his freezer. He decided he’d need that terrible romcom and ice cream after all.

***

The next day was an absolutely hectic mess, which was what Kyungsoo would later blame for what happened.

Lunch rush was typical for the bakery, one of the times they made their most money, with lots of local business people coming in to buy something sweet, or cold sandwiches when they didn’t bring something from home, or a coffee to get them through the rest of the day. The guys from EXO Publishing usually came by to say a quick hello, snag a coffee refill (the bakery had started doing a “bring your cup back and we’ll refill it for half price” deal and it had done enormously well, helped the environment, and saved them quite a bit in to-go cup costs) and put entirely too much in the tip jar. Kyungsoo’s usual “lunch” run was really a late afternoon pick me up that happened to coincide with the less busy afternoons for the bakery, and Chanyeol usually put off his own lunch until Kyungsoo came by so they could spend their breaks together.

But that day, for some reason, the lunch rush refused to quit, and added to that Minseok was busy with a flurry of cake commissions, Zitao was out on a backlog of delivery runs, and Baekhyun had managed to burn his hand while steaming milk for coffee drinks badly enough Kyungsoo had told him to get it checked out at the clinic and take the rest of the day off. He didn’t regret the decision, it was always going to be more important that his employees (and friends) were safe and healthy than anything else, but with Kyungsoo covered in ingredients from mixing the new batches because they’d been running out of cookies faster than he could make them, Jongin sprinting from the register and back to the ovens, and Jongdae pumping out coffee drinks with increasingly harried efficiency, everything seemed just a touch too chaotic to bear.

Luckily, the flow of customers seemed to have finally stopped, Jongdae finishing the last coffee, when the little bell over the door tinkled making Jongin groan loudly from the ovens. Chanyeol pushed into the little cafe and Jongdae slumped onto the counter saying loudly, “Thank _ fuck_.”

Chanyeol paused with his hand still on the door, eyebrows raised. “Rough day?”

“_Yes._” Kyungsoo said, trying to balance all the various baked goods and coffees for EXO in a precarious arrangement in a little box. “Will you be okay if I take my lunch? Jongdae, I’ll take the rest of your shift when I get back, you can go check up on Baekhyun, I’m caught up on the baking and if that many people show up again I’m shutting the door in their faces and closing early,” Kyungsoo said, scowling. 

Jongdae smiled tiredly and flapped a hand at him. “Go, go, I took my break earlier, Jongin will nap in the back, we’ll be fine. Enjoy your lunch, boss.” He tossed a wink at Kyungsoo and waggled his eyebrows as he looked between him and Chanyeol, which made Kyungsoo narrow his eyes in warning.

“Here, let me,” Chanyeol said, suddenly just over Kyungsoo’s shoulder. He took the tray of coffees off the top of the box where it no doubt would have fallen if Kyungsoo had walked more than ten steps. Kyungsoo smiled at him gratefully, and then smacked his hand away when Chanyeol reached inside the box for Kris’s chocolate donut.

Chanyeol chuckled, but there was something lacking in it, that same muted thoughtfulness Kyungsoo had noticed the night before.

Too tired for tact, he just said, “Out with it,” as soon as they were out of the bakery.

Chanyeol’s head snapped up and he almost walked into a light pole. “Oh,” he said while they waited for traffic to clear so they could cross the street. “I, um. I finished reading the manuscript, that one? The gay boy group one.”

Kyungsoo’s heart leapt into this throat. He replied, too casual, “Yeah? What did you think?”

Chanyeol’s eyes narrowed, serious in a way he only ever was about editing. Kyungsoo braced himself.

“It’s amazing,” Chanyeol said, and Kyungsoo remembered to breathe. “Really good, especially for a rookie author. You get the feeling that this story has been bursting to come out of him for a really long time, y’know?”

The road cleared, and Kyungsoo’s feet felt like they didn’t even touch the ground as they crossed the street.

“There’s definitely work to be done, some things that need clarifying before they’ll make sense to a wider audience, too much detail in some places, not enough in others. Language issues, but all that’s typical, especially for someone new to the business.” Chanyeol’s eyes narrowed and he chewed his lip. Kyungsoo couldn’t look away, wanting to drink in every motion of his face. 

Chanyeol flicked a glance at Kyungsoo before continuing. “It feels...important. I don’t know how to explain it, it just.” He looks up at the sky as if asking for guidance. “I feel like...you know how so many stories are just, like, ‘_Oh love is beautiful, oh love makes the world go round, blah blah_,’” he said in a mocking sing song, twisting his shoulders in a little sarcastic dance. “Well, this one. I dunno. It really made me feel that, maybe for the first time. Like, functionally it’s a love story, the core conflict is their relationship and how they all work as a group, and how they all support and love each other even knowing that two gay members in a relationship would basically blow up their chances, yeah? But it feels bigger than that. It feels like.” He paused again, looking at his own feet, walking slowly. “Like the kind of story you read and it makes you feel like truth is stronger than fear.” 

He stopped just in front of the doors to EXO, and Kyungsoo stopped too, both of them just looking at their reflections in the glass, side by side, shoulders almost brushing. The height difference should have been comical, but instead, it just looked right.

Chanyeol turned to look down at Kyungsoo, so Kyungsoo turned to look up at him.

“It makes you feel brave,” Chanyeol said, eyes intense.

Chanyeol opened his mouth to say something more at the exact same second Kyungsoo lost all control of his mouth and blurted, “I wrote it.”

There was a long awkward pause before Chanyeol laughed. All the warm bubbly impossible feelings inside Kyungsoo’s chest dissolved into an invisible puddle on the pavement.

Seeing Kyungsoo wasn’t laughing, Chanyeol squinted. “What?”

“I wrote it,” Kyungsoo said again, standing up straight against his own anxiety. “I wrote the book. I’m D.O.”

Another long awkward pause where Chanyeol just gaped, open mouthed, face contorting itself into so many different emotions Kyungsoo couldn’t quite keep track.

Then, in a completely unexpected turn of events, Chanyeol said, “Huh,” and then bolted through the doors to EXO.

Kyungsoo stood there, too numb to really feel more than shock at how he could go from getting his dream reaction about his book, from the person he wanted most to love it, to feeling like he’d gotten his heart broken by a man he’d never even properly given it to.

On autopilot, he trudged his way into the building and up to the second floor, not even sparing a nod for Johnny, the secretary at the front desk. Just as he got to the top of the stairs, Junmyeon was heading down them, smiling privately, and almost literally ran into him. Junmyeon apologized profusely, taking Kyungsoo by the shoulders to steady him. 

“I was just coming to tell you Chanyeol finished the first edits of your book, he loves it, Kris loves it, Luhan even loves it, you’re going to be published, Soo!” Junmyeon crowed to him, before seeming to really look at Kyungsoo for the first time. “Oh, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”

Kyungsoo pressed the box of baked goods into Junmyeon’s chest until the other man took it on reflex, brow still furrowed with concern. “Please make sure everyone gets these, rough day, gotta run.”

He heard Junmyeon calling after him as he jogged back down the stairs again, but he didn’t turn around. He might have started crying if he did.

Kyungsoo was almost to the street again when he heard his name being called, this time by a voice that filled him with dread and, despite everything, with that spark of joy that he couldn’t suppress no matter how hard he tried. 

Chanyeol’s hand took him by the shoulder and gently tugged until Kyungsoo turned around. He was too tired to keep the disappointment off his face, and Chanyeol let out a tiny wounded sound when he saw it. He held out a pile of papers to Kyungsoo.

“Read it,” Chanyeol said, and that was when Kyungsoo realized it was his own book Chanyeol was trying to hand him.

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes, a kernel of anger firing up inside his chest.

“I already _ have _ read it Chanyeol, I _ wrote it_,” he said, exhausted and verging on either fury or despair.

“No!” Chanyeol shouted, trying to stop him from turning away and crossing the street. “No,” he said again, calmer. “These are my notes on it, we do most of our editing digitally now, but I like to do a red pen copy sometimes, more tangible that way, and better for manuscripts that I know will be, uh,” he hesitated, swallowed, “difficult, for me.” He tipped the stack of papers in his hands nervously. “I’ve already got all the edits saved, I don’t need this anymore and, um. It’s got some, uh. Less professional notes. That I just, think you should read, ok?” 

Chanyeol ducked his head so he was closer to Kyungsoo’s eye level, half bowing with it. “Please?” He doesn’t pout, which is why Kyungsoo tells himself he caves and takes the manuscript.

“Okay.” Kyungsoo said, quiet, already looking across the street to the bakery. He wasn’t even completely sure why he was mad anymore, or if he was. He was just tired. Tired of the day, tired of the seesaw of emotions. Tired of wondering if he was a massive fucking idiot for having fallen in love with his best friend.

“See you tomorrow?” Chanyeol called to him once Kyungsoo had crossed the street. Kyungsoo turned and looked back at him, took in his hunched shoulders, nervous face.

“See you tomorrow,” he said, and walked into the bakery.

***

After Minseok finished his last cake commission, Kyungsoo sent him home and closed by himself. Jongin had already scheduled a half day, he taught dance classes for toddlers Monday afternoons, so it was just Kyungsoo wiping down the little tables, cleaning the floors, locking everything up. He didn't mind, the only person who'd shown up the entire afternoon was a little old lady who had handed him double the cost of her order, said "Pick out something nice for yourself," and shuffled away with a giant hot cocoa and a triple chocolate brownie. Kyungsoo pulled a sugar cookie piped with an adorable sun and tiny writing that said "You light up my life!" It was good. He forgot sometimes that they really were good at what they did.

On his walk the few blocks to his apartment he called Baekhyun, assuming a burnt hand would make texting a chore. Baekhyun said he was fine, got some cream and a bandage but he'd be okay to come to work tomorrow and be fully healed in a week or so. There was laughter in the background, and a voice that sounded like it might have been Yixing's. Distracted, Baekhyun thanked Kyungsoo and told him not to worry or else he'd get wrinkly way too young. Kyungsoo told him to fuck off, and hung up smiling.

When he got home, back sore and feet aching, he set his bag on the table, where it promptly tipped over and the front flap slid away, showing the marked manuscript sitting there. Kyungsoo just looked at it, brain churning too sluggishly for any definable thought. 

He toed off his shoes, went into his room, changed into sweatpants and a threadbare shirt, tossed his old university sweatshirt over it, slid into his bunny slippers, and shuffled to the refrigerator to grab a beer. With a deep drag off the bottle, he took the manuscript to his couch and set it on the low coffee table. Putting the bottle neatly on a coaster, Kyungsoo took a deep breath, and started to read.

He'd read the book itself so many times by now he had it practically memorized, but it still felt new with Chanyeol's commentary. The first three chapters were relatively sterile, just editorial markings for punctuation and spelling mistakes, things Kyungsoo had mostly fixed by now in flurries of anxiety. But there was still the occasional _ "Nice!" _ which made Kyungsoo smile.

As the story progressed, Chanyeol's notes got more detailed and less professional. When Loey told D.O. in a hotel room all about the cute girl he'd hooked up with the night before, forcing D.O. to put on a brave face and act fine, the red pen scrawled, _ "Ugghhh, Loey you IDIOT." _

The notes continued like that, Chanyeol giving running commentary about his thoughts on the idiocy of the characters, the way they all cared for each other, anger at the management group that overworked them all. He actually wrote _ "haha" _ at several of the jokes weaved into the somewhat dry sarcasm of D.O.'s narration. It felt like Kyungsoo was having a conversation with him, like they were doing their version of a book club, Chanyeol sending him texts as he read.

There was a lot of true editorial work in the middle, the part Kyungsoo struggled the most with. It was one thing to start a story, and another to keep everyone interested while the conflict developed, maintaining tension and showing the reader the clear love Loey and D.O. had for each other without making it boring. He agreed with a lot of Chanyeol's suggestions, surprisingly, especially about pacing and tempo, but there were a few points he could already anticipate fighting with him about.

When the confrontation finally dropped, D.O. telling the group he'd asked to be released from the contract and leave for a solo career after his stint in the military, the red pen dropped off sharply. It was a dialogue heavy segment, everyone yelling at once, D.O. standing firm, an ache in his heart.

_ "I'm not happy," D.O. said. "I haven't been happy for a long time." _ Chanyeol underlined, drawing a sad face and circling it twice.

Kyungsoo drained his beer steeling himself for the next bit, where Loey cups D.O.'s face in his big hands and tells him he loves him, right there in front of the rest of the group. It was sappy, cliche almost, Kyungsoo having rewritten it so many times trying to get across the point; it was worth it. Love was worth it.

There was no red pen to be found. Pages and pages of nothing, pure blank white margins. Anxiety built in Kyungsoo's chest with every page turned; through the kiss, through the back slaps and the wolf whistles from the group, through coming out publicly on the stage and the strain on themselves and the group that wouldn't be broken even by the greatest scandal KPOP had ever seen. Through the epilogue, two wrinkly old men in a little house by the sea, a cat cradled in Loey's big hand, his other holding D.O.'s, their granddaughter playing with their dog in the sand. Nothing, through D.O. singing to Loey, a ballad just for him.

Then, at the bottom of the last page, written large and underlined twice, with a splatter of blood red ink like his hand was shaking: 

_ "TELL HIM." _

***

Baekhyun came into work the next day just like he said he would, hand wrapped in gauze, beaming hugely in contrast to Kyungsoo’s frown. Jongdae refused to let him anywhere near the steamer and assigned him to “flirt with the customers, darling, you’re fantastic at it,” and then kissed him sweetly on the mouth. Kyungsoo didn’t counter the order because it was true, he _ was _ fantastic at flirting with the customers, and also Minseok looked like he might stab him if he said anything.

Having made it through the morning with no accidents and only the normal amount of lunch time customers (with quite a few more tips than usual, Baekhyun using his pretty pout to best effect) Kyungsoo gathered up the pastries for EXO and Jongin, who was cheerful because Taemin was in town and they’d spent the night before babysitting Jongin’s niece, volunteered to carry the coffees.

Kyungsoo’s belly had been filled with butterflies, he’d barely even slept the night before, but walking toward the doors of EXO he felt a calm wash over him, like everything was going to be okay. The sky was bright and sunny, and Jongin was next to him literally dancing across the street. Even for him, it was hard not to be optimistic.

When they walked into the office, Jongin danced everyone their coffees, making them all smile, Kyungsoo following at a more sedate pace behind and delivering pastries. Jongin made a beeline for Junmyeon, who was perched on Luhan’s desk wearing his “agent smile”, and wrapped his arms around his back, smacking a loud kiss on his cheek. Kris, arms full of papers again, stopped on his way to his office with a carefully neutral look on his face until Jongin yelled, “Hi, hyung!” only releasing one arm around Junmyeon’s waist to wave. A smile dawned on Kris’s face, mirrored by Junmyeon looking back at him. 

Chanyeol came out of his office and walked up to Kyungsoo who was still holding a single strawberry filled pastry, Chanyeol’s favorite. Chanyeol had his hands in his pockets, shoulders hunched, eyes furtive. Kyungsoo wanted to kiss him, and for the first time, the thought made him smile.

“So,” Chanyeol said, rubbing the back of his head. “Did you, uh, read it?”

Kyungsoo nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

“And?” Chanyeol choked, voice rising higher than usual.

Just watching him for a second, Kyungsoo thought. “Tell who what?” he said. No ambiguity, cards on the table. You could’ve heard a page flutter to the ground.

Chanyeol gritted his teeth, visibly steeling himself, before he looked Kyungsoo in the eyes.

“I’m in love with you,” he said. Kyungsoo’s heart swelled with joy and he couldn’t help the way he beamed. Chanyeol’s eyes lit up, going wide and hopeful.

Kyungsoo set down his carrying box with the single pastry, smile dimming slightly.

“This isn’t,” he started, frown deepening. “It’s not just the book, is it? Because I can’t -”

“No!” Chanyeol interrupted, grabbing Kyungsoo’s upper arms. He quickly turned his grip softer, rubbing his hands up and down Kyungsoo’s arms, from shoulder to wrist. “No, Kyungsoo, it isn’t just the book. I’ve been in love with you for years, ‘Soo, I’ve just been an idiot.” 

Kyungsoo’s heart lodged in his throat. Chanyeol’s hands kept up their rhythm.

“I’ve been so afraid of, of,” Chanyeol swallowed. “Of being in a gay relationship, and what that would mean, for me, for my career, for _ you _ and all the struggles we would go through if, if we did this. If you even loved me back. Which, I’m. I’m not good enough for you, Kyungsoo. I’m not.” 

He said the last louder, in response to whatever expression was on Kyungsoo’s face. 

“It’s true, but I. Your book, it was an inspiration, y’know? To _ try_. Because maybe it’s hard, and maybe there’s struggle, but.” 

He took Kyungsoo’s hands, wrapping them in his. 

“It’s worth it. Love is worth it, whatever it takes. And the struggle Loey and D.O. went through, it was so real, and they went through it anyway, and it just made me realize, that,” he licked his lips, thumbs absently brushing the backs of Kyungsoo’s hands. 

“I wasn’t ever going to have that, or be worthy of that, if I didn’t try. So,” he cleared his throat. “I was going to tell you anyway, even without you having written the book. That’s what that note meant. That I’d already decided to tell you. I’m in awe of you and proud of you for having written something so powerful.”

Chanyeol dropped one of Kyungsoo’s hands in order to cup Kyungsoo’s cheek, long fingers brushing the short strands behind his ears.

“I love you. I’m in love with you.” Chanyeol said, resolved, smiling softly down at Kyungsoo.

Heart full to bursting, Kyungsoo felt like he could fly. He squeezed Chanyeol’s hand back, hard, and leaned into his palm.

“I love you too, you idiot.”

When Chanyeol laughed, Kyungsoo went up on the tips of his toes so he could kiss him, unable to resist the temptation of sharing in that joy and feeling it against his skin.

Wolf whistles and applause erupted throughout the office, and they came crashing back down to earth, both of them startling at the reminder they were, in fact, having this conversation in front of their best friends. Kyungsoo darted a glance around the room, stuttering on Minseok, Jongdae, Baekhyun, and Zitao laughing from the doorway. Baekhyun lifted his phone and wiggled it and then jerked his chin to Sehun, who was whistling loudest of all and just raised an eyebrow at Kyungsoo’s halfhearted attempt at a glare.

Looking back to Chanyeol, who had become wrapped up in his arms at some point to his great happiness, he beamed, his cheeks hurting with it. Chanyeol, ears tipped red with embarrassment, beamed back at him like he’d hung the moon and like he was the sun itself. The feeling was absolutely mutual.

“Huh?” 

Yixing lifted his bleary head from the design desk where he’d been intently focused on his latest cover. He had one earbud in his hand and the other in his ear and a deeply confused look on his face.

“What’d I miss?” he said, to a chorus of groans.

A kiss landed on Kyungsoo’s temple, and he squeezed Chanyeol tighter at the reminder that this, this happiness, was his now. He looked up at Chanyeol again, and the wonder there, and he thought, _ This is ours. _

THE END

**Author's Note:**

> thank you all for reading! expect more from this universe in the future as I've been absolutely infected by it.


End file.
